Contact points, lights and effects.

[OleBoy]

Is there an app or program available (freeware) that will aid (visually) in adjusting these?

[hairyspin]

There was a beauty called Aircraft Container Manager, but it is both payware and no longer available (and was for FS9). But if you have the Gmax source file - which you do - you can get the positions precisely from the model.

Pick a vertex on the bottom of a wheel at frame 100 (fully down and suspension fully extended) and get the coordinates from Gmax. You'll need to convert to feet, or you can change Gmax's viewport units to feet and decimal fractions to save the bother. Then get the coordinates of the same vertex at frame 200 (suspension fully compressed) and you can work out the full travel. Repeat for the other wheels and/or tailskid.

Same for positioning lights and effects - pick a vertex or place a Dummy helper in situ and get the coordinates from Gmax. Simples!

[SkippyBing]

Showmarkers which I think I got from http://blackiceair.net/Tools.html does what you want, shows various points in FSX in real time, e.g. contact point, centre of gravity, carrier attach points etc. etc.

[OleBoy]

Good info HS. I'll surely give what you mention a try.

On another note, I really need to get the Gmax Bible. It would benefit me in many situations I am sure.
Thanks for the pointers!

Skippy, looks like a nifty tool. I'll have a peek at that too.
Edit; actually, no. That's not going to work for my needs. A basic light effect will do the same thing.
Thanks for suggesting to try it at any rate.

[TARPSBird]

I downloaded the Showmarkers utility and when I attempted to run it I got this:

Could not load file or assemble 'Microsoft.FlightSimulator.SimConnect, Version=10.0.61259.0, Culture =neutral, PublicKeyToken=bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

Suddenly remembered (senior moment, LOL) that I tried Showmarkers before for adjusting tailhook position and got the same show-stopper error prompt. Looks like I need to tweak/reinstall SimConnect or something. Can somebody point me to a fix? I'd really like to be able to use Showmarkers since I can't use Aircraft Container Manager in FSX.

[bazzar]

Simple enough. Just place an extra nav light green or red or white at the exact co-ordiates from your contact points list, in the lights section. then adjust it until it is where you want visually in the sim. Once you have the light in the right position, alter your contact point or effect's position co-ordinates to suit. Delete the extra lights and have a beer.

[OleBoy]

The lights are all good to go after some fiddling.
Thanks for the help!

Moving on to attach points and effects. And working with the flight dynamics.

[Milton Shupe]

The lights are all good to go after some fiddling.
Thanks for the help!

Moving on to attach points and effects. And working with the flight dynamics.

You have the best tool in the world, Gmax to get the x,y,z coordinates. Select the object's vertex where you want the measurement and convert the meters to feet.

[Paul Domingue]

For anyone who has ACM for FS9 and is developing for FSX there is a way to use ACM and almost all of its capabilities. It takes a little work but once setup works great.
<o:p></o:p>
Create a folder in the root of FSX called Aircraft, your just going to replicate FS9’s folder hierarchy in FSX.
<o:p></o:p>
Copy your aircraft from the SimObjects/Airplane folder to the new Aircraft folder, delete the interior model from the model folder if you have one and then start ACM and point it to the Aircraft folder you created in the root. You should now see your aircraft listed in ACM. Do not load it though because there is more to be done and you will get an error.
<o:p></o:p>
Open your gMax/Max model and save it as a new copy. I use this naming convention (myaircraftname_ACM). Then strip the model of all animation leaving your control surfaces in neutral position and landing gear fully extended. Now strip the mesh of all nonessential geometry, gear mechanism, engine, cockpit, etc. everything except for the wings, tail, fuselage and wheels. The object is to eliminate the high poly count that is acceptable in FSX but not FS9. Now generate an FS9 model and place it in the aircraft’s model folder of your simulated FS9 Aircraft folder.
<o:p></o:p>
Start ACM and load the new model. You now can edit the contact points, weights, effects, and use the surface calculations to write into the CFG file. You can also use these calculations in conjunction with AAM for FSX (freeware) to edit your AIR file.
<o:p></o:p>
I use this method for all my models.
<o:p></o:p>
Happy modeling,
<o:p></o:p>
Paul<o:p></o:p>

[TARPSBird]

I guess only SkippyBing has used the Show Markers utility successfully because nobody responded to my post about the SimConnect error. It really aggravates me when I can't get a program to work properly. :banghead: Does running the "repair" option from the FSX Accceleration disk jeopardize your overall install of the sim?

[OleBoy]

For anyone who has ACM .


Far more work than I can muster myself to do, but great info for those who wish to try it.

Tarpsbird, showmarkers worked fine. Appeared to anyway. It sounds like your problem may be simconnect. I had a similar issue with FSUIPC not working due to a bad uninstall routine. Needless to say, a complete format/reinstall (after the process of elimination) is what made things work again.

[TARPSBird]

OleBoy, thanks for your response. Looks like everything pertinent to SimConnect is on the FSX Acceleration disk. I may try the repair option.

[familton]

I downloaded the Showmarkers utility and when I attempted to run it I got this:

Could not load file or assemble 'Microsoft.FlightSimulator.SimConnect, Version=10.0.61259.0, Culture =neutral, PublicKeyToken=bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

Suddenly remembered (senior moment, LOL) that I tried Showmarkers before for adjusting tailhook position and got the same show-stopper error prompt. Looks like I need to tweak/reinstall SimConnect or something. Can somebody point me to a fix? I'd really like to be able to use Showmarkers since I can't use Aircraft Container Manager in FSX.

You can use ACM for FS9 planes in FSX but not native FSX planes. Create a folder called Aircraft in your main FSX folder and point ACM to there. It will NOT work with FSX native planes. Bob.

[TARPSBird]

Bob, thanks for your response. I have only a few FS9 planes in my FSX install, most of them are FSX-native and some of them are the ones I'd like to make adjustments to if I could get the Show Markers program to work. Adjusting lights and contact points and such is a lot easier and less time-consuming when you don't have to do trial-and-error adjusting, checking it in the sim, adjusting again, etc.

[familton]

Far more work than I can muster myself to do, but great info for those who wish to try it.

Tarpsbird, showmarkers worked fine. Appeared to anyway. It sounds like your problem may be simconnect. I had a similar issue with FSUIPC not working due to a bad uninstall routine. Needless to say, a complete format/reinstall (after the process of elimination) is what made things work again.

I downloaded ShowMarkers.exe and when I run it as Administrator I get a message that it can't connect to FSX HRRESULTE _Fail has been returned from a call to the com component. Is there any help for this program anywhere? Thanks, Bob.

[DaveQ]

I downloaded ShowMarkers.exe and when I run it as Administrator I get a message that it can't connect to FSX HRRESULTE _Fail has been returned from a call to the com component. Is there any help for this program anywhere? Thanks, Bob.

I get the same

DaveQ

[TARPSBird]

I think Show Markers has become "abandoned-ware" like Aircraft Container Manager. I emailed the Black Ice Air website (see SkippyBing's post above) on Monday asking if they could put me in contact with the creator of Show Markers and have not heard back from them.

[DaveQ]

I've been working on the Alphasim Crusader, trying to get it more 'rubbish pilot'-friendly. I hit upon the ruse of using the Rollus F-8 air file and aircraft.cfg because it's more stable to fly, but of course all the contact points, lights, hooks and launch bars, etc., went out the window. I came across this thread and thought 'Aha, just what I need!' But no joy so I did it the long way. I got a 3-view plan, loaded it up on Photoshop, took some measurements and worked them all out. As a result I now have a Crusader I can regularly trap, that cats realistically, with an afterburner where it should be, etc. What's more I'm now going to repeat the exercise with one or two other old birds to see if I can't improve their cat/trap characteristics.

DaveQ

[OleBoy]

I think Show Markers has become "abandoned-ware" like Aircraft Container Manager. I emailed the Black Ice Air website (see SkippyBing's post above) on Monday asking if they could put me in contact with the creator of Show Markers and have not heard back from them.

A bit of investigating led me to the name, Lamont Clark (French I presume) as the developer of Showmarkers.
I forgot to mention also that when I tested Showmarkers, I tested it in Prepar3D simulator. Further searching relative to the error FSX HRRESULTE_Fail, also appears to be linked to Simconnect communications.